Chapter Eleven
Ihave everything outside and ready to go when Austin pulls up.
“I’ll admit, I was really fucking surprised when you called,” he says, climbing out of his vehicle, which this time is a shiny black Ram pickup.
“Good surprised or bad surprised?”
“Definitely good. Here, let me grab those.”
I walk past him and drop the tailgate before stepping back so he can load the first of the boxes. It doesn’t take long before he’s done. He lifts the tailgate, then walks around to the passenger side and holds the door open for me.
I thank him and climb in, ignoring how I feel with him this close to me.
Once I’m in, he leans over and straps me in, making me suck in a surprised breath.
He acts like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
Maybe it is for him, but not for me. Up until the other night, I wouldn’t have thrown water on him if he were on fire.
He closes the door and climbs in beside me. “So where to?”
“The post office,” I answer, cringing at how breathless my voice sounds.
“Right. I probably could have figured that out for myself.” He chuckles as he starts the truck and heads away from the ranch. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure?”
“What’s with all the trees?”
I look out the back window, not sure how much he can see from this side of the building. Sure enough, the trees have grown around the house in a protective embrace.
“They were like this when I came back from the hospital,” I admit.
“Wait, what?”
I look over at him, surprised that he’s surprised. I thought he knew what I was capable of. Though I admit, the trees surprised me, too.
“So it’s my fault?”
“No. It was mine. I pushed myself too hard.”
“Yeah, because I fucking terrified you.”
“Maybe. But I won’t lie and say I don’t feel safer because of it. I mean, the place is like a fucking fortress now. No more having to deal with gasoline-soaked fields.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Yeah, let’s just say someone wasn’t happy I have the ranch back.”
“Porter?”
“Porter,” I agree.
“What the fuck is his problem anyway? He knows the ranch belongs to you. Legally, he has no claim to the land.”
“And yet it hasn’t stopped him from having me served. Unlucky for him, he was too late to stop me from selling off a large portion of cattle. And well, Jen took care of the rest.”
“He’s unfucking believable. Where the hell did your father find him?”
My lip twitches as I turn to look out the window. “Oh, you know, he just went out and found a guy exactly like him.”
“So Dicks R Us? I’ve only met the guy once, but he seems like a fucking tool.”
“He was here when I arrived. Had to get the sheriff to remove him. It was oddly satisfying.”
“What’s your deal with him anyway?”
“No deal. He wants the ranch and probably to make my life miserable, especially now that he knows I have his wife and kid living with me.”
His head whips around. “I was talking about the sheriff, but now I need to know the rest.”
I sigh. “He hits her—Dawn, that is. I’d seen her in town and gave her some cream for her bruises. She turned up at my place not long ago, beaten black and blue, only this time he had hit Hannah too.” I don’t mention the rape. That’s Dawn’s business.
“That motherfucker. Tell me you didn’t take them in because you feel guilty. That ranch is yours, and I don’t give a fuck if that left him without a job. He’s known for years it was coming.”
“He was probably hoping I’d die in prison. It’s not like there hadn’t been a few attempts.” At the time, I assumed they were random, but now I’m not sure. I was lucky I had made friends in there because, powers or not, it’s impossible to watch your back twenty-four-seven.
He squeezes the steering wheel but says nothing.
“And I don’t feel guilty, not about taking back my ranch. Yes, that might have set him off. But guys like that are so volatile that if it hadn’t been that, it would have just been something else.”
Like Jen getting his case thrown out of court.
“True. How are they doing?”
“Dawn’s healing. Hannah is having a blast. I think it’s the first time she’s been able just to be herself and not have to walk on eggshells to appease her father.
I’m sure it was easier when he was at the ranch from sunup to sundown, but with him home all the time, things were bound to come to a head.
As much as I fucking hate him for putting his hands on Hannah, I think it was the push Dawn needed to leave him. ”
“She should have left him before it went that far,” he grunts. I want to snap at him that he has no idea what he’s talking about, but he does because his mom was a victim of domestic violence too.
“Everyone thinks leaving is easy. If it were, nobody would ever stay. When she arrived at the home of a virtual stranger, might I add, she had nothing but the clothes on her back, and those were torn and bloody. If I weren’t there, who would have taken her in?
Who would have helped keep Porter away from her and Hannah?
Go ahead and name me five people. I’ll wait. ”
But he can’t, because he knows what people in this fucking town are like. And part of me wonders if the toxicity is what helped poison the place.
“I would have.”
“She doesn’t know you. And even if she did, you’re a pretty intimidating guy with a reputation that precedes you. Too many times, women think it’s easier to stick with the devil they know.”
“You don’t seem intimidated by me.”
“Then you’re not reading me correctly. Besides, my feelings for you are complicated.
I was always a little bit in awe of you.
I kinda wanted to be as scary as you when I grew up, so that nobody would hurt me or push me around anymore.
Then everything happened, and I was hurt that I trusted you and you let me down, because trust is hard for me to give.
Then I was just angry. So fucking angry that I almost killed myself trying to get the anger out.
It had festered for so long that it was like a wound had burst open, and I was bleeding out.
“Now, well, now I don’t know how to feel. Part of me is still angry. Part of me is sad. But the rest of me is just confused. You’re somewhat of an enigma, Austin, and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing yet.”
“For you, good. Maybe not when it comes to others,” he admits.
I don’t know what to say to that, so I say nothing.
“So the packages. What’s inside them? I assume it’s not steak or sausages.”
I chuckle. “No. It’s creams and lotions, elixirs and remedies that I sell via my website.
The stuff we have in the truck is the orders that were placed locally, so I didn’t see the point in having them FedExed.
Mostly because they go to the depo before they get delivered, and that’s over a hundred miles away, which seems pretty pointless. ”
“So you’re just going to mail them out from the post office. Won't that cut into your profit margins?”
“It’s fine. I’m not concerned about that.”
“Still, a new business can go under quickly. Why pay more than you have to when we could ride around and deliver them by hand?”
“You want to drive me all over town so I can hand-deliver items to people? People who may or may not be happy to see me. See, ordering online gives them a chance to stay anonymous. They can still avoid me in the street and not feel guilty about it.”
“No, fuck that. If people want to buy your shit, they can damn well have the decency to be respectful. And with me beside you, that’s what they’ll fucking be.”
Feeling amused, I shrug. “Alright.” I pull out the list from my pocket and unfold it. “Closest to us are Doyle and Mary over on Levitt’s Ranch.”
“Okay.” He makes a left turn, and we head in that direction. “So circling back. What’s up with you and the sheriff?”
“Nothing.”
“It didn’t look like nothing to me at the hospital.”
“Yeah, well, whatever you saw faded when the man decided I wasn’t worth the hassle and left me there without a backward glance. Okay, so that sounded bitter, and yeah, maybe I am, but hey, at least you have company on the shitlist.”
“Sounds like we both deserved it.”
“Oh, you do. You really do.”
He pulls up at the first address and climbs out before walking around and opening my door. He unlatches my belt before I can do it and then slides his hands around my hips and lifts me out, leaving me stunned once more. What the hell has gotten into this guy?
I close the door behind me and walk around to the truck bed, where Austin is rummaging for the correct package. When he finds it, he hands it to me. I suspect if it were heavy, he’d insist on carrying it.
“Thanks. I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“No, you’ll wait in the car.”
“And what if you’re right and someone doesn’t take too kindly to you turning up here? It was my suggestion, so it should be my risk to take.”
“You know what I can do. I’m not in any real danger, and you’ll be right there.”
“Your powers can’t stop a bullet.”
“Neither can you. So if someone manages to get a shot at you, I’m next anyway. Either I knock, or we go to the post office. But last time I checked, this couple is in their sixties. I’m pretty sure I can handle whatever they throw at me.”
He scowls at me, not happy at all with my decision. But something he should learn about me right now is that I can be a stubborn asshole when the mood arises.
“Jesus, I’m fucked,” he mutters, walking back to the driver’s side.
I frown, not sure what he means, but I shake it off and head up to the door. I knock and wait before knocking again. I’m about to give up when the door opens, and a vertically-challenged woman opens the door. If she’s an inch over four feet eleven, I’d be shocked.
“Yes?”
“Mary Montgomery?”
I’ll admit she’s vaguely familiar, but after fifteen years, most of the names and faces blur together.
“That’s me. How can I help? Wait, do I know you?”
“I’m Calliope Hart. As you live locally, I thought I’d drop off your package so you don’t have to wait any longer than necessary.”
“Calliope? Oh my goodness, you look just like your mama.”
Okay, wow. I didn’t expect that. “You knew my mom?”