Chapter Twenty-Five #2
“That’s strange. Let me check the day and time I sent it.
You can check your spam folder. I’m sure that’s what must have happened,” Cyn murmured, already digging through her purse for her phone.
She scooped it out, and the screen’s glow cast faint shadows across her anxious face as she began to scroll, her fingers trembling.
Her frown deepened, and her mouth fell open in shock.
“Oh, Jenna, I am so sorry. The email never went out. I forgot to hit send. It’s still in draft mode. I must have been distracted and just left it there. I swear, this has never happened to me before.”
The explanation hit Jenna like a soft exhale. Not absolution, but understanding, the kind that loosens the tightness in your chest.
Cyn’s cheeks flushed red as she hurried to correct her mistake, tapping the screen.
“There, I just sent it now. You’ll have all the information in a minute.
To sum it up, Axel and Nick are here under conditional parole.
They’re allowed to stay for as long as you need help, but each of them has to wear an ankle bracelet for a short term.
The bracelets monitor their location. If an alarm goes off on one of the ankle monitors, the police will be notified immediately and both of them will be brought back to prison.
Not just one, but both of them. It’s a way to make sure they look out for each other.
The men know the boundaries, and the authorities are watching.
Their parole officer will call every two weeks and talk to you and to them.
The first phone appointment is in the email, so you can prepare.
You’ll also need to sign the paperwork for their paychecks. That’s in the email too.”
Jenna nodded.
A heavy weight lifted from her chest. The weight she’d been carrying, the fear of losing them, fear of this being temporary melted like frost under sunlight.
She’d made the same mistake once or twice herself in forgetting to send out an email. She understood that life sometimes got the better of you. Mistakes happened in the blur of busy days.
Relief swept in and around her. Relief in the way the cool and refreshing early morning breeze slips through the open windows on an autumn morning, which was coming soon.
Knowing that Axel and Nick, both on conditional parole, were here for the long haul, brought Jenna comfort.
“Thank you, Cyn, for sending them. They came at just the right time.” Jenna’s voice was soft, and she let her gratitude shimmer in her words as she glanced out the kitchen window and gazed to the left.
The sun was shining now, and it spilled golden light across the pasture, catching on Axel’s easy grin and Nick’s sure hands as they guided the horses around the training yard.
The sight steadied her. Her two men moving with quiet confidence, fitting into her world as if they’d always belonged there.
It struck her how seamlessly they’d stepped into ranch life, as if the land itself recognized them.
How they appeared to know what they were doing, was beyond her as she hadn’t wanted to trust them yet with the training until she knew they were staying.
Yet here they were, looking professional. It appeared they had been watching her while she’d been working with the horses.
Warmth seeped into her bones, as she watched them. Even from here she could hear the horse’s steady thump of hooves and their low nickers.
“I can see that they belong here,” Cyn replied with a softness Jenna had never heard before as she sidled in beside Jenna and looked out the window at the two men.
The shared silence felt strangely intimate. Two women watching the same scene, both seeing something different, both understanding its importance.
The scent of grass drifted into the room, and the laughter from the men floated on the air like music to her ears.
Jenna watched Axel and Nick, her hand settling over her abdomen. Her palm warmed over the small swell. It was a reminder that her future wasn’t just hers anymore, but theirs.
These two men were her protectors, her soon-to-be horse trainers, her lovers and her patchwork family. The phrase settled into her like truth. Imperfect, unexpected, stitched together by circumstance and choice, but real.
She loved that the horses responded to their calm voices and their gentle hands.
Enjoyed the little dust devils swirling in the sunbeams as the horses’ hooves thudded against the earth.
The little spirals of dust felt like tiny blessings.
Signs of movement, of life returning to places that had been still for too long.
Jenna’s heart swelled with emotions and the jagged edges of her grief were being softened by the simple, comforting rhythm of ranch life.
She smiled, feeling the day shift towards possibility.
Yes. It was perfect time for them to be here. They were her perfect men. Not flawless. But the real deal. And that’s exactly what she needed.
Hope rose in her like a sunrise. Slow and golden, impossible to ignore.
They were her cowboys, and for the first time since they had arrived, Jenna let herself freely hope that she would eventually get a happy ending with Nick and Axel and her unborn baby.
* * * * *
He stood atop the knoll, binoculars pressed up against his eyes as he gazed through the morning haze down at Bear Valley Ranch.
This spot brought back memories of his recent escapades here.
It was the very place where he’d struck a man over the head and made his escape.
That interruption had truly pissed him off, especially that yapping dog.
He’d thought about killing both the dog and that man right then and there.
But that would have really drawn in a crowd that he didn’t want.
The vantage point here had been good. The height made him feel untouchable. Like a predator surveying his territory. It gave him a birds eye view of Jenna’s valley ranch.
Earlier he’d heard a car coming and had squatted down. He’d watched a blonde chick drive by, and she’d driven her car down the hill toward the ranch.
Being a cop certainly had its advantages. It gave him access to resources most could only dream of, and those resources made it all the more difficult for anyone to uncover his activities. He felt a twisted sense of satisfaction in that secrecy.
His eyes followed Jenna and the woman who’d arrived earlier as they came out of the ranch house and strolled toward the pasture.
There, the two cowboys entertained the horses, moving with a carefree energy that seemed out of place to him. Their easy camaraderie grated on him. Men like that didn’t deserve peace, not when he was denied it.
When the men saw the two women, they waved, happiness flooding their faces.
Seeing Jenna safe and smiling irritated him. She had no idea how close danger still lingered.
Well, he was glad he was getting out of here. Permanently.
Happy people pissed him off.
He frowned, noting the continued absence of Ginny. He was pretty sure now that she wasn’t coming back here. That truth settled like a stone in his gut. She’d slipped through his fingers, and he couldn’t stand the idea of her being out of his control.
He regretted not acting sooner. He should have taken Ginny the moment he’d learned she’d reunited with her eldest sister.
Truth be told, he hadn’t expected Ginny to come here. After all, she had told him everything about her and her siblings and her parents.
In the beginning of their relationship when he’d love bombed her, she’d been like an open book. He remembered how she’d opened up to him, mistaking manipulation for affection. He’d gotten so much information out of her.
Her perfect parents. That she thought all couples should be like her mom and dad, all sweet and lovey Dovey.
That admission from her had killed him in such a sweet way. It had made him laugh, internally.
She was so na?ve. He’d learned her likes, dislikes, everything that he could use to manipulate her, without her even knowing.
She’d said Jenna and her didn’t get along and they did a lot of fighting, so it had been one of the last places he’d looked.
That Ginny had gotten rid of her car, the one that he’d planted a tracker on, had pissed him off. She’d done the same thing with her cell phone, and she never used her credit cards and rarely withdrew money out of her bank account.
His instincts had warned him to take her when he’d seen her here that first time, but he had hesitated. Whisking her away when she was taking care of Jenna’s ranch with some old man who came around twice a day, would have drawn unwanted attention from her siblings, and she had many of them.
He’d toyed with killing the old timer who kept dropping around. But again, a death would draw too much attention. He didn’t like attention, at least not that kind.
He wasn’t willing to take too many risks because he had no idea how much Ginny had told them about him. About their relationship. About what he was capable of. How he loved to hurt and to love at the same time.
He let the binoculars drop against his chest and wiped away a stray bead of sweat dripping down his left cheek.
He remembered how, after hurling a rock through the ranch house window by the parking lot at night, he hadn’t realized Jenna had returned. Her vehicle, parked beside the horse trailer, had escaped his notice until after he’d thrown the rock and turned his truck around.
That’s when he’d noticed Ginny’s car was gone and Jenna’s car was in that spot. He’d instantly recognized his mistake and took off at high speed knowing that he’d captured the attention of Jenna, not Ginny.
Sure, he could have gone in and killed her, but he’d panicked and by the time he’d thought about doing it, a helicopter had shown up so quickly. It was a good thing he’d made himself familiar with escape routes and had technology to block heat signatures from being read by those on the helicopter.
Still, he’d come back today, hiding his truck on a nearby logging road, keeping watch over Jenna’s property. Now, with the two cowboys present and Ginny’s absence confirmed, he was pretty sure she wouldn’t return.
Jenna must have called her little sister, warning her about the incident. Perhaps Ginny suspected it was him behind the rock and the note, and the fear had driven her away.
That was all he’d meant to do, just frighten her a little. He’d planned to show up the next day and play the hero, sweep her into his arms, and beg her to come home with him. And if she didn’t want to, he would have made her.
But she was gone.
Now, he needed a new plan. He would have to figure out where Ginny was hiding. He wanted her back. He needed her as much as he needed air.
To him, Ginny was the best thing that had ever happened to him.
She was so sweet, so attentive to whatever he wanted, so green. He’d never met such an empathetic soul.
She belonged to him, and she’d had no right to leave him.
He resolved to hunt her down, no matter how long it took.
If she dared to get involved with another man, he would kill him and reclaim what was rightfully his.
His resolve hardened. He would find her.
Ginny. Where are you, babe?
The End