Chapter One #2
“Cowboys Online is a little known program for prisoners. We are under contract with Correctional Service of Canada and Public Safety Canada. Our program helps get people like yourself and Nick out of prison early and into isolated areas of the country to help out on ranches. Not too many people want to work in these types of areas that are hard to get to, and certainly not for a pittance pay, so we at Cowboys Online are able to supply the labor at a huge discount to our clients and with some pay to you too. We set it all up with the approval of the Parole Board of course. You will get weekly pay, and it would be direct deposit at a bank you choose.”
Axel couldn’t believe what she was saying and he forced himself to blank out his excitement. This can’t be real.
“I have done my homework on you, Mr. Rosetti, and your cellmate, Nick Ryan. Nick knows everything about horse ranches and sources tell me he is trustworthy and that you know all things about machinery and carpentry and that the both of you have a solid relationship.”
Axel’s mind whirled. What exactly did she know about Nick and himself?
“And with the two of you on board, Jenna could expand her horse ranch…you see, she and her husband trained horses for therapeutic organizations who help the physically and mentally challenged. But with her husband now passed, she’s had to take an extended leave of absence from Cowboys Online, and she has put me in charge.
I know important people and that has allowed me to pull some major strings for you and for Nick.
It’s all legal. No worries there. So, please hear me out, at least.”
The kid reached down, brought up a black briefcase from the floor, placed it onto the table, and clicked it open. She withdrew some papers and flipped through them, then separated them into two piles.
“Sign these papers. We’ll get Nick to do the same and the both of you will be on the other side of these walls and on Bear Valley Ranch by the end of the week. I have a judge who will okay the deal and make it all legal.”
Bear Valley Ranch?
Jenna.
Shit.
He blew out a slow breath trying really hard to stuff down his excitement.
Axel stared at the two stacks of sheets she pushed in front of him.
“In each pile are your Conditional Release Agreement, a Program Participation Contract, Consent to Disclosure of Information and a Risk of Acknowledgement and Liability Waiver. Signing them means you agree to the terms of Cowboys Online, the work, the rules, the supervision. Either one of you break any of the rules, and you both are back inside. Keep your head down, do the job, and you get a real shot at freedom.”
Conditional Release Agreement.
The top sheet on one pile said that exact thing and there was his name on it and the other pile had Nick's name on it.
This was either a really good prank, or this chick was serious.
Well, he would bite. He had nothing to lose.
“Alright, give me a pen,” he finally said, his voice softer than he’d intended.
“You don’t want to read it? I would advise you to read it and ask questions.”
“I will, after I sign.”
He needed to sign this before something happened to make this delusion disappear.
She handed him a pen, her smile almost relieved.
The clink of his chains as he reached for the papers sounded different now, filled with the possibility of hope.
He was curious to find out exactly how far this kid would carry this joke.
That is, if it was a joke…
* * * * *
Bear Valley Ranch, Northern Ontario, Canada
Present Day ~ August
Jenna Donnelly stared out across her mist enshrouded valley and remembered the first time her late husband, Tim, and her, had laid eyes on this little ranch shortly after it had been put up for sale.
It had been a rundown place. The three bedroom log house with the faded red shutters and curling brown shingles on the roof had seen better days. The rusty sheet metal roof and the grey planks on the barn had needed repairs.
They still did. Tim just hadn’t gotten around to doing much when it came to manual labor. She’d learned slowly that he just wasn’t that kind of guy.
She’d learned even more slowly that all he’d wanted was to latch onto a woman with a good paycheck so she could take care of him, and he could have affairs behind her back.
What better way to do that then to have her away working during the week so he could do whatever he wanted with access to a nice bank account.
It had been five years since they’d come here. They had instantly made an offer because they’d fallen in love with the lush green valley that was surrounded by forests.
Five years and two months since they’d been married. He’d swept her off her feet very quickly. He’d shared her love for horses, or so he’d said. But it had turned out he’d done the bare minimum for the horses’ care while she’d been out in the city working at her job and coming home weekends.
You’re bringing home the bacon; he’d jovially laugh when he’d go online into their joint bank account. She never should have trusted a man so easily. But he’d been ultra nice…in the beginning. Looking back into her past she realized she’d been na?ve when it came to the love department.
Before Tim, she’d been with only one man.
The One. Or so she’d thought.
Her ex-fiancé, Axel, who she’d known instinctively would be the father to her children. He’d been the one man she’d wanted to spend the rest of her life with.
Well, that had worked out well, hadn’t it? Axel was in prison for murder, and she was pregnant by her late husband. Pregnant because she’d foolishly hoped Tim would settle down if he had a child of his own. Now he was dead and she would be a single mother.
She shoved away the gut wrenching emotions that threatened to well up and tried hard to get back to remembering how she felt that day when she’d first come here.
It was the scent of freedom that had nailed this place for her.
The enticing smells of the earth, the fragrance of pine and the aroma of decaying leaves that drifted out from the nearby forests.
Then had come the smells of freshly cut grass that reminded her of home and of watching her dad mow the lawn with his gas-powered lawnmower in their large backyard.
But in this case it had been an old man sitting on a rusty old red tractor cutting the grass around the ranch house.
His wife had died, and he’d been invited to live with his granddaughter and grandson-in-law and their several children on her farm in Saskatchewan, so he had wanted to sell fast.
He'd reminded her of her dad. Strong and cheerful. For as long as dad had been alive, she’d felt safe.
Jenna frowned.
Her husband Tim had never really been able to do that.
Yes, there had been red flags where Tim was concerned, but she’d ignored them because she’d loved how nicely he treated her at the time and she had wanted to settle down and have a family.
Well, Tim was dead now and she had this little ranch to deal with. To sell or not to sell was the magic question.
Should she finally put herself first and keep the ranch running, keep training the horses as she’d been doing every weekend, holiday, and spare time she’d had?
Or should she just let go of the dream that she’d been breathing life into and trade it all in for the security of working for the Cowboys Online program?
Decisions. Decisions.
One thing she knew though, if she didn't stop moping around here, decisions would be made for her. And she preferred to remain in charge. But she just couldn't seem to make up her mind.
She was sad. Tim’s unexpected death had hit her hard and that meant her unborn baby wouldn’t have a dad.
A sob caught in her throat and a bubble of hot tears blurred her vision. She wiped away the wetness with the back of her hand just in time to catch movement between the quickly clearing swirls of mist.
There. About a quarter of a mile away on the gravel road that wound its way down into her valley.
She stood still and watched carefully as a black pickup truck spewing a faint trail of blue smoke entered the yard of her ranch house, its chrome briefly reflecting in the early morning sunshine that was poking holes in the white fog.
She didn't want to go and greet her visitor. She preferred to stay here at the edge of the tree line and watch her horses as they peacefully grazed in the early morning mist.
Why didn't people just leave her alone so she could grieve in peace?
Sighing, she started walking back toward the ranch house.