Chapter Four
“She sure seems like a nice young gal,” Gram said, referring to their new guest, Natalie, as Vaughn drained a third horse bucket and poured in some apple cider vinegar to scrub it with.
“Yes, she does. A bit browbeat, but nice nonetheless.”
Gram helped scrub away the lingering algae in another bucket. It was nearing ten at night and Vaughn was finally on the last of the daily chores after having found Natalie on the private road. The chores were the ones Ricky and Pedro were responsible for and here she was trying like hell to finish them up. She’d already mucked out the stalls in both stables and given the horses their supplements. She’d double-checked all the fans, made sure there was no storm damage, and now it was time to clean out all the water buckets in the stables.
“I figured you were thinking the same as I was as far as Natalie’s concerned,” Gram said.
Vaughn didn’t really want to get into it, but she knew Gram wouldn’t let up until it was discussed. And she was right. They’d been thinking along the same lines. “I suppose.”
“Have you spoken to her lately?”
She was referring to Sissy, Vaughn’s aunt. She’d moved away a few years before due to a horrible divorce and her story had sounded a lot like Natalie’s.
“I haven’t. You?”
Gram sighed. “Not in a while.”
“I’m sure she’s fine.” She was sure of no such thing. But Sissy kept to herself. There wasn’t much they could do.
“Maybe,” Gram said. “She’s just so different since…”
“I know,” Vaughn said.
“She’s never going to be the same.”
“’Fraid not.”
Gram straightened. “I hope Natalie doesn’t suffer the same effects.” Gone was the free-spirited extroverted Sissy they’d all known and loved. What remained was a quiet, reserved woman who had very little time or trust for anyone. It was heartbreaking.
“It’s hard telling, Gram,” Vaughn said as she continued to scrub. “But he’s already put his hands on her and we know how that can escalate.”
“Mm-hm.”
“But if he can’t find her, then it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“And if he does find her?”
“We call the cops. He won’t be stepping foot on this ranch if I can help it.”
Gram pressed her lips together.
“What?” Vaughn asked, sensing she was holding something back, which she rarely did.
“I’m just worried about the initial visit from him. The visit to let us know he’s found her.”
Vaughn straightened. “We call the cops. As soon as we set eyes on him.”
“And while we wait for the police?”
Vaughn shook her head. “It probably won’t come to that, Gram.”
“Just to be sure, I’m going to keep the guns loaded.”
Vaughn looked at her incredulously.
“You don’t know this man,” Gram said. “Nor do we really know this woman.”
“You’re catastrophizing.”
“And you’re downplaying a possibly very serious situation.”
“Hey, I didn’t hear you protesting.”
“Because I think you’re right. We should help her. But we should also be cautious. That’s all I’m saying, child.”
Vaughn closed her eyes. “Okay. We’ll be careful. Keep our eyes open.”
“And the guns loaded.”
They worked some more and moved on to the next few buckets before Gram spoke again. “She’s pretty, too.”
Vaughn met her gaze. “Who?”
“Natalie.”
“So?”
“So, you noticed.”
“Doesn’t mean anything.”
June grinned. “Been a long time since you’ve admitted a woman was good-looking.”
“Yeah, well, like I said. Doesn’t mean anything.”
“You’re probably right. Best to leave it alone. She’s got some trouble to contend with before she’s available.”
Vaughn laughed. “Jesus, Gram.”
“What? I’m conceding. She’s off the market.”
“Even if she was on the market, as you say, I wouldn’t be interested.”
“Why not?”
“Because—well, we don’t even know her for starters.”
“But we invited her to stay in our guesthouse, did we not?”
“We—”
“Uh-huh.”
Vaughn rolled her eyes.
“I know you well, Vaughn Marie Ruger. So don’t even try to get anything past me.”
“I just thought she could use the help.” Vaughn said. “And that maybe the extra money would help us too.”
“Kill two birds with one stone.”
“Yes.”
They worked some more in silence.
“You said you found Hazel?” Vaughn asked, the muscles in her back burning from overexertion. Her back pain was getting worse with every day, but she tried to hide that from Gram. She wondered though, how much worse it was going to get and whether or not she could keep hiding it.
“I did and I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. She was out beyond the east fence line with a wire tangled around her ankle. It cut into her a bit.”
“Shit.” Vaughn stopped scrubbing. Just what they needed, an injured horse.
“I cut it loose, and tended to her, but you’ll need to double-check her wound.”
“It bad?”
“Just a small cut. Nothing serious.”
They backed away as Vaughn rinsed out the buckets.
“I thought for a while there that maybe Ricky and Pedro had taken Hazel and Mojo both,” Vaughn said, wiping her brow with the back of her arm. The storm had left a heavy, humid feel to the air. Something Phoenicians did not appreciate, and the big floor fans in the stables weren’t doing much to help.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Gram said.
“You don’t think they let them out of the corral and into the field do you?”
Gram held her brush out for Vaughn to rinse. “I don’t rightly know, Vaughn. Those boys…it’s hard telling.”
Vaughn was just about to agree with her when she heard someone enter the stables.
“Is that vinegar I smell?” Natalie asked as she joined them.
“It is,” Vaughn answered as she handed the hose over to Gram to finish filling the buckets. She saw the questions on Natalie’s face. She was wondering about the vinegar. “It helps clean and prevent algae growth and we also add it to help with the horses’ digestion.”
“Huh. I never would’ve guessed,” Natalie said, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Thought for sure you’d be asleep,” Vaughn said. They’d talked for a while more after she’d shown Natalie the guesthouse. They’d had some cheese and crackers and mainly spoke of the running of the ranch. Natalie had thanked Vaughn again and wished her a good night before returning to the guest cottage.
Vaughn wicked away more sweat from her forehead, removing her cowboy hat to do so.
“Couldn’t sleep,” Natalie said. “And I heard you two out moving around so I thought I’d see if I could help.”
“There’s nothing left to do tonight,” Gram said. “’Less you wanna help Vaughn tend to some cuts on Hazel.”
Natalie looked at Vaughn with hope in her eyes. “Can I?”
Vaughn shrugged, not used to people getting excited over treating some minor cuts. “Sure.” She led Natalie to one of the supply shelves where they housed the first aid materials. She walked down to Hazel’s stall, gave her some gentle pats, and opened the door to enter. Vaughn carefully cleaned her hands with antiseptic gel before she got started removing the taped-on gauze. Luckily, from what she could see, the wound on Hazel’s leg wasn’t very deep.
“Here you go,” Vaughn said, handing the hand sanitizer to Natalie.
Natalie cleaned her hands and hesitantly stepped inside the stall. “Is this okay?” she asked, as if each step might rattle the horse.
“You’re fine,” Vaughn said, smiling to herself. “Hazel doesn’t spook easy.”
“Oh. Good to know.”
Vaughn knelt closer and reached back toward Natalie. “You want to hand me that wound cleaner there? The white bottle. And some gauze?”
Natalie did as instructed and Vaughn began cleaning the wound. She knew that Gram had already done so, but it never hurt to do it twice. Hazel took a few miniscule steps but otherwise remained in place.
“Good girl,” Vaughn cooed. “That’s a good girl.”
“How did she hurt herself?” Natalie asked.
“She got tangled up in some wire.”
“That sounds painful.”
“It does, doesn’t it?” Vaughn sprayed on more cleaner and dabbed the last cut with the gauze. “She’s lucky this is mostly superficial.”
“How did she, you know, come across the wire?”
“She most likely got too close to the outside fence line when that storm rolled in. She wasn’t supposed to be out that way, but there she was. That’s where Gram found her.”
“Does that happen often? Horses going where they aren’t supposed to?”
Vaughn reached back again and met her curious gaze. “No. Not often. Will you hand me that Silvet Silver Spray now? The gray bottle.”
Natalie handed it over. Vaughn applied it generously to the wound and straightened, trash in hand. “That should do it.”
Natalie smiled as if feeling truly accomplished. “She’s all better?”
“Should be, in about a week or so. We’ll keep her duties light until then.”
Vaughn exited the stall, allowed Natalie to follow, and closed it up and threw away the used gauze. She cleaned her hands again and led them out of the stables. She’d hoped for a gentle breeze outside to help stir the heavy feel to the air, but she was met with disappointment. Maybe a ride on the Quadrunner would help.
“I need to ride out to where Hazel was found to check that fence line before I turn in,” she said.
“Mind if I come along?” Natalie asked. “I’d love to see more of the ranch.”
Vaughn appreciated her eagerness to help, but she was tired, bordering on exhausted, and the thought of Natalie clinging to her on the back of the four-wheeler sent her head spinning to places it shouldn’t go.
“You wouldn’t be able to see much tonight,” Vaughn said. “And I really need to make it a quick check.”
The letdown wasn’t well disguised on Natalie’s face. But she lightheartedly smiled, nonetheless. “Raincheck?”
“Sure.”
“Okay.” She began to walk slowly away. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“We’ll be up bright and early,” Vaughn said.
“I will too, then.”
“Hey, Natalie,” Vaughn called.
“Yeah?” She appeared hopeful, like maybe Vaughn had changed her mind about her coming with.
“Did the house get cooled off enough to sleep?” She couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of the temperature in the cottage sooner. It had been closed up for weeks with the AC off to save money. And now she expected a guest to sleep in it after only a few hours of the air cooling.
“It’s doable,” Natalie said.
“Because we have an extra bedroom. In the main house, if you’d like to sleep there for the night.”
Natalie seemed grateful but resigned. “I’ll be okay, thanks.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure.”
Vaughn waved and Natalie returned it before she walked away for good. Vaughn watched her go, thinking about the crazy day and how it had all turned out. She never would’ve imagined coming across a beautiful woman on the side of the road, car on fire, needing a place to stay. As Gram would say, you couldn’t make this shit up.
She tugged on her cowboy hat and climbed on the four-wheeler. And as she rode out to the far edge of the ranch, Natalie crossed her mind once again. She thought about the way her dark bangs hung over her eyes and the way she brushed them back as if it were a nervous habit. She thought about her laugh. Though hesitant at times, it resonated and left Vaughn feeling lighthearted and full of laughter herself. She thought of her bruises and her story about a violent ex-husband. It hurt her heart to think about someone doing that to her, or any woman for that matter.
She slowed as she came to the edge of the east property, shining her Maglite along the fence line. She spotted the loose wire almost immediately; a tangle of it had settled at the base of the fence. She crawled off the four-wheeler, slipped on her leather gloves, and cut the wire free. Hazel was lucky she didn’t get tangled and caught up in the fencing in the heat of the day. That would have been very bad indeed. And still she wondered, how the hell the horses got out to the pasture to begin with.
With the wayward wire in hand, she walked over to the Quadrunner and secured the wire to the back. She headed back to the house, ready to call it a night, with Natalie Brewer already on her mind once again.